Marijuana law reformers continue to take the phrase “all politics is local” to heart.

Over the past decade, grassroots activists in numerous towns and municipalities — including Seattle, Washington; Columbia, Missouri; Santa Cruz, Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara, California; and Denver, Colorado — have successfully campaigned for local ordinances making the enforcement of pot possession laws their city’s lowest law enforcement priority.

This year, a coalition of activists — led by the University of Arkansas chapter of NORML and the Alliance for Drug Reform Policy — have placed a similar proposal on the ballot in Fayetteville, Arkansas (population: 67,000).

If passed, the city will become the second Arkansas municipality in recent years to enact marijuana ‘deprioritization.’ (NORML’s state affiliate championed a similar measure in Eureka Springs in 2006.)

In the days leading up to November 4th, most Americans attention will be directed toward Washington, DC and the Presidential election race. But while we remain focused on national politics let’s not forget about the significant changes taking place locally — one community at a time.

NORML applauds the work of Sensible Fayetteville and the efforts of other local — and often unrecognized activists — not only what they’ve already achieved, but also (and especially) for what they will accomplish in the future.

Working in marijuana law reform, we typically hear cops say that they don’t ‘make the marijuana laws, they just enforce them.’ That sentiment may sound reasonable, but let me be the first to tell you that it’s utter horsecrap.Law enforcement lobbies vigorously to maintain marijuana prohibition. And when their lobby efforts fail they simply choose to ignore the law altogether.

Still not convinced? Check out this story from Idaho, where the state Attorney General rushed to ‘invalidate’ a pair of local initiatives that called on police to cease arresting adults who possessed small amounts of pot.

Or better yet, check out law enforcement’s reaction to the passage of a recent Texas state law that recommends cops issue citations in lieu of arresting minor pot offenders. As noted by Midland County Texas Sheriff Gary Painter, law or no law, pot offenders in his county “will be placed in jail,” and there’s not a damn thing anybody can do about it.